Thousands without heat in Liaoyang

Residents of Liaoyang, in the northeastern province of Liaoning, have been promised their heating will resume on Friday after being left for two days in freezing temperatures when a boiler failed at a local power plant.

The accident was caused by a burst pipe in the boiler, at a plant run by Hongyang Thermal Power in Liaoyang at 3 pm on Tuesday.

The indoor temperature at a residence in Liaoyang city, in Northeast China's Liaoning province, falls on Wednesday night after a boiler at a power plant broke down the day before. SUN HAI / FOR CHINA DAILY

The heating service is provided by a Hongyang-run company owned by Shenyang Coal Trade Group, said officials. The system provides service for almost 70,000 households in the city.

After a two-day overhaul, the boiler was ignited at 6 am on Thursday and began heating supply at 3 pm, said Li Meiyu, spokesperson for the Party committee of Liaoyang.

From 5 pm on Thursday, the temperature inside residences began to rise and the heating system would be back to normal by Friday morning, Li said.

Zhou Guangmin, director for the heating office at Liaoyang government, apologized to residents affected by the accident and pledged to provide effective services this winter.

However, Ma Naiyou, a 70-year-old retired resident in the Baita district of the city, said that his radiators were still cold at 6 pm on Thursday.

Ma said that the two-day heating loss had caused him considerable discomfort as a recent stroke means he has to stay at home in winter.

Bei Dianqiu, a resident in the Hongwei district of Liaoyang, also said the loss of heating had been hard to cope with. He said he had noticed in October that the pipes for heating were put underground without any protective covers.

He had expressed his concerns over the potential problem to the heating company, but had got no reply.

The city's heating supply was first provided by the Hongyang heating subsidiary in 2010 but since then there have been problems every year, Ma added.

Even when it does work, the service has not been as good as before, he said. To keep warm, his family has had to dig out an old electric blanket and buy another two for grandchildren.

"I have never experienced such cold in my house," said Ma, who has lived in the community for 24 years.

According to a report on China National Radio, the Hongyang heating subsidiary relied on two thermoelectric units.

When the accident happened in one unit, another one was being repaired, which caused the termination of all heating systems in most areas of the city. Many public agencies were also badly affected by the accident.

Liu Xianglin, a director for the logistic department of Liaoyang's No 5 Hospital, said many patients had had to suffer freezing temperatures in their wards. In order to ensure the normal temperatures for operations, the hospital had relied on air conditioners, at huge cost, Liu said.

Children also went home from kindergartens as temperatures dropped to -21 C in some areas on Wednesday.

Ma said he could not afford to warm his house by using air conditioners.

"It will cost me almost 20 yuan ($3.2) per day," he said, having already paid 1,600 yuan for his heating.

A manager surnamed Li at a power plant in Shenyang, capital of Liaoning, said on Thursday that the normal life span of a boiler is about 25 to 30 years, but they need servicing every year.

Contact the writers at wuyong@chinadaily.com.cn and jinhaixing@chinadaily.com.cn